One of the largest hotel chains with hotels all around the world,
the Marriott Hotel Chain, recently wrote a letter to the chairman
of Erez Travel and Tourism, Uzi Yalon, in which his address was
listed as: "Yerushalayim, Occupied Palestinian Area".
The Marriott Hotel chain is based in Washington, and its hotels
have served as popular convention sites for many Jewish organizations,
including the Conference of Jewish Presidents, and many Israeli
delegations to Washington have stayed at the hotel.

Mr. Yalon was outraged. He wrote back a letter to the hotel chain's
board, "I was born in Yerushalayim which has always been a
part of the State of Israel. I am not prepared to assist in marketing
a hotel chain which defines my city in such a way, and I plan to
impart this to the rest of my colleagues in the upcoming convention
of Israeli travel agents." The Marriott administration did
not reply to his angry letter. Mr. Yalon also sought the intervention
of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and outgoing Tourism Minister,
Benny Elon.

Mr.. Yalon did not delay carrying out his threat. He reported to
the "Tourism" journal, the professional Israel organ for
travel agents, that he is stopping marketing for the Marriott chain
in Israel, and he calls on all other travel agents to follow his
example.

The local representative of the Marriott hotels is an East Yerushalayim
tourism company run by a member of the Husseini family, Shakiv Husseini.
The former regional director was also a Palestinian.

Jews should consider whether they prefer to give their business
to a company that is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.